


Pokémon 'O Kekahi - Cosmog Mystery

by BurritoWrites



Series: Pokémon 'O Kekahi [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: F/M, POV Third Person, Pokemon Journey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-09 21:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14723726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurritoWrites/pseuds/BurritoWrites
Summary: Marco Sparke travels to Alola with his partner, Eevee. He meets a mysterious girl called Lillie, her even more mysterious Pokémon called Nebby, and a Kantonian called Ash Ketchum. The trio will explore Alola, finding the region's secrets, Lillie's past, and maybe even secrets about Marco's own life. [Rated T for Langauge and Workaholism. Crossposted to FFN]





	1. The sun shines on Alola!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Sun and Moon - 'O kekahi! 'O Kekahi means 'Alternative' in Hawaiian. Alola is based of Hawaii, so I thought it would be a good title! This takes place in some sort of grey area in between the Anime and Game storylines, with Lillie, Ash and my OC being the main 3 characters. This is what ties it into the anime - Ash.
> 
> Lillie is also in a grey area. She can touch Nebby, but not other Pokémon.
> 
> As said, this is my take on the anime, so expect alterations to characters, like Ash and Lillie.
> 
> Italics are thoughts.
> 
> Enjoy!

The shimmering Alolan sun shone down on Marco Sparke and his partner, Eevee. It was a clear day, not a cloud in the sky. As they ran off of the steps of the ferry they took, both of them were clearly relieved to be back on land.

"Ah, finally!" Marco exclaimed, setting his feet on the docks of Alola. Known for not being the best on ships, his Eevee sighed in relief as she stepped off of the ship.

Marco Sparke was a twelve year old boy from the Sinnoh Region. He was travelling to Alola for a new journey. He needed some time to clear his head, bond more with Eevee, and get stronger. They'd both need to if they wanted to beat the Elite Four

_**[- Flashback -]** _

" _Eevee, come on, get up!" Marco yelled, not wanting his partner hurt, but at the same time, wanting to win the League. Eevee tried to will itself up, to fight more for it's trainer… but slumped down, unconscious. It had been beaten by Flint, and his Houndoom's Sludge Bomb._

" _Eevee is unable to battle! Elite Four Flint is the winner!" The judge yelled, pointing a flag towards Flint. Marco walked over to his Eevee, picking her up and cradling her in his arms. He got out his Pokéball, and pointed it at Eevee. But before he returned her, he spoke some motivating words._

" _I know we didn't make it this time, bud. I know it's gonna be hard to get past this. But don't worry! We'll get him next time! We'll be stronger, faster and better! I know we will. You did great, and you deserve the longest rest ever. Return." He said before sending his Eevee back into its Pokéball, "Thanks for the battle, Flint. You did really well. I'll be back soon, and we'll beat you!"_

_And with that, Marco scurried off to the Pokémon Centre to heal his Pokémon._

_**[- Present Day -]** _

Marco wanted to beat Flint more than anything. He'd heard Alola was a great region for bonding with Pokémon, so he thought to come here to grow stronger.

"Alright Eevee, this is Alola! Let's show 'em what we've got!" Marco said to his partner.

"Eve, Eevee!" She responded, leaping onto Marco's head. He ran off, absently counting his Pokéballs as he did. He'd actually left most of his Pokémon with Professor Rowan. He'd wanted more time to focus on Prinplup and Eevee, his two main Pokémon-

"GAH!" Marco yelled, along with another boy, as they knocked into each other.. One had raven hair and slightly tanned skin. He was wearing a green and black life vest, clearly just having come off of the Sharpeo Jet Ski activity, along with some standard shorts. His Pikachu fell off of his shoulder, yelling "Pika!" in shock.

"I'm so sorry!" Marco apologised, picking Eevee up and placing her back on his shoulder, "I was distracted, I'm jet-lagged, are you ok?"

"Ah, don't worry about it," the boy said, as the Pikachu ran up to his shoulder, "My name's Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and this is my partner, Pikachu!" The pikachu let out a "Pikapi!" of greeting.

"Nice to meet ya! I'm Marco Sparke from Sandgem Town, in the Sinnoh Region!" Marco introduced. He nodded to his Eevee, saying "And this is my partner, Eevee. Can't forget her!"

"Eevee!" Eevee squealed, greeting Ash and his Pikachu.

"Anyways, I gotta run back to my mom. I'm only here on vacation after all!" Ash said, turning around and running away to his mother, "See ya soon, maybe!"

"Bye!" Marco called out, waving him goodbye.

And with that, Marco and Ash parted ways. And Marco doubted it would stay that way.

Marco yawned and looked at his watch.

_22:53_

He groaned and slumped down against the wall. He was pleased to know he could still book rooms in the Pokémon Centre, nothing had pissed him off today. In fact, today went really well. It was just… Sinnoh's timezone was so different to Alola's. Because of this sudden time change, doubled with the annoying jet lag he had from an eight hour flight… he just wanted to lie down and sleep for about a year.

He glanced over to the Meowth clock on the wall, which displayed the correct time.

_17:53_

"It's only 6PM?" Marco realised, before letting loose a huge yawn, stretching his arms as he did. Eevee and Prinplup had already eaten and were in their Pokéballs for now, resting for the next day.

Marco gave up trying to stay awake, and escaped into the bathroom to get changed. He put his pyjamas on, which consisted of some light-grey shorts and a plain green pyjama t-shirt. He also wore some green flip-flops.

He realised that Nurse Joy (or whoever operated the whole room business thing) would probably waltz in unless he put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. Marco let out an audible groan. He had never been a night owl, so it was natural for someone like him to suffer at this time of day. At least, what time it was in Sinnoh. Sighing, he fumbled around with the Do Not Disturb sign, and _finally_ laid down to rest his head…

Marco hazily opened his eyes. It had been another dreamless sleep. Or maybe he just forgot it. Marco wasn't good with that kind of stuff. He couldn't tell what time it was, and he couldn't care less. He was starving, and a little jet-lagged. Wearily, he got into a sitting position, taking in his surroundings. Marco glanced at the time. He wish he hadn't, because he cringed at how early he'd gotten up.

_11:24_

"That's 5 in the frickin' morning back in Sinnoh,"Marco sighed, and slowly got up, stretching when he got out of bed. He took a look at his surroundings. Average Pokémon Centre room. Clear sky. Unusually bright outdoors… Yeah, he was in Alola. He smirked at his previous smartness of training in Alola, seeing as how they were so intertwined with Pokémon here.

But this wasn't any time to boost his ego. Now was the time for getting ready for an adventure! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. That was the first chapter I wrote for 'O Kekahi. Well, I don't have squat time, so you AO3 guys will have to wait for a while for chapter 2 and 3, but they'll release simultaneously! Hope you enjoyed! If you want to read Chapter II and III now, check out my FFN! - RedSparke
> 
> That's the username! Hope ya'll enjoyed!


	2. Battle on the Bridge!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding a girl's mysterious Pokémon in danger, what's the sensible thing to do when you could die from saving it? Getting your Pokémon and battling the Spearow attacking it of course! Wait a minute...

"I have no idea why you want to go all the way to the ruins, Nebby," Lillie said, looking inside her PokéBall patterned duffle bag. Inside, there was a cosmic Pokémon.

The bag ruffled, Nebby clearly wanting to be out.

"Alright then," Lillie sighed, "let's keep going."

But what neither of them knew, was that a certain brown haired boy was watching them.

* * *

Marco tried to follow them stealthily… and failed. It was a miracle that he wasn't seen. Maybe the thing setting him off balance was the giddiness that came from catching his new Zorua, and sending Prinplup back to Sinnoh...

...On second thought, that last part was really sad. Prinplup just… didn't want Alola. He'd told him. Marco understood… but it felt weird not having Prinplup on him.

And Prinplup was the one thing that could save him from drowning.

Marco shook the thought and emotion away and followed the girl. They approached a rope bridge.

' _Doesn't look like the safest thing in the world,'_ Marco thought, looking nervously at the bridge, _'Ah, who am I kidding? I went through a crap-ton more than this!'_

Suddenly, without warning, a small, cosmic Pokémon jumped out of the girl's bag, and started to make its way along the bridge. It would have made it across fine, seeing as it was floating… if it wasn't a small group of Spearow that attacked it.

"AH!" They both yelled, shocked at the sudden Spearow attack. Marco realised his cover was blown, but that was the least of his problems when there was a weird, cosmic Pokémon being attacked. The girl turned to Marco.

"What should we do?" She said, thankfully not bothered by the fact that Marco was probably following her, "Nebby doesn't have moves to protect it!"

Marco's mind was racing, trying to find a solution. Did it involve Zoura? No… Did it involve him? No… Did it involve Eevee?

Yes. That's it! His strongest Pokémon could easily ward off those Spearow! And they had a new tactic they were practising, so they could use that.

"D-Don't worry," Marco said to the girl. Damn, his stutter. Of course that had to come when he was trying to be smooth, "I'll save them!"

_'At least, I hope I can…'_

Marco carefully stepped across the old rope bridge. It was swaying, so not much help. He took a deep breath and gripped the barrier ropes, watching his feet step one after another. It suddenly swayed violently, causing both the girl and him to gasp in shock. Fortunately, the bridge didn't collapse, so that was alright.

"Alright, Eevee, come on out!" Marco said, throwing a Pokéball up in the air. Eevee was released. She landed almost perfectly on his shoulder as Marco caught the Pokéball and reattached it to his belt. Now THIS was something he should be able to do easily.

"Right, Eevee, use Swift on the Spearow!" Marco commanded. Eevee oblidged, making stars ram into the Spearow with a cry of "Eevee!"

"Great job Eevee!" Marco thanked, "Now use Quick Attack to bounce from Spearow to Spearow!" This was something they'd been working on - using Quick Attack to "bounce" on an enemy's Pokémon. Marco was just praying Eevee could pull it off.

And Eevee did, thankfully. They bounced back onto Marco's shoulder, with a small "Eve!" to end their spectacular move. Marco couldn't be any prouder of his long-time partner.

"Great job Eevee! That was amazing!" He praised, giving his partner a small pet before grabbing the rope again: he was still afraid of it collapsing on him. He looked at the Spearow, and realised they were charging up a Peck. He dodged it… but the bridge didn't.

"HOLY SH-" Marco had enough time to call out, before he, Eevee and Nebby started to fall into the lagoon. Miraculously, he grabbed onto a rung, but he felt it creak

"Eevee, return!" Marco yelled, sending Eevee back into the Pokéball. He caught Nebby. They were as light and fluffy as a cloud, but there was no time to think of that. All he knew was he was killing his joint holding onto the bridge with one hand.

"Oh crap, crap, crap crap crap…" Marco said, looking down at the lagoon below him. He'd never learnt to swim, opting for the forest rather than the waves, and his mother never made him take lessons.

Now he kinda wish she had.

"Oh my god!" The girl called from above, leaning over the cliff she was on to see the situation, "What's going on?"

"A Spearow broke the bridge!" Marco cried out, knowing he was gonna feel the pain in his arm for a long time, "I don't know how much longer I can hold on!"

And as if that was the straw that broke the camel's back, he was forced by the pain in his arm socket to let go of the bridge and fall into the deep blue water below. As he made contact with the water, he had to cry out. It was cold. Really cold.

' _Winter is coming,'_ his mind went, as he started to get pulled along by the current. His hands started swinging for something to grab hold to, and he felt the side of the rock. He pulled himself up, trying to break the surface.

* * *

"Hey! Hey!" Lillie shouted, trying to see if he'd surface. She knew - or at least, she doubted - that the boy could hear her from here. She also knew the boy had been following him, but hey: if she was in his shoes, she'd be curious about why a girl was speaking into something in her bag.

Out of nowhere, in the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of blue light: Nebby had teleported them and the boy back to the cliff she was on. The boy was coughing up water, and Nebby looked weak from the teleportation.

"Oh Nebby! I'm so glad you're ok!" She said, and put them safely in her bag. She turned to the boy, who seemed to have slowed down the coughing a bit. He turned to her.

"Well," he said weakly, "That was one hell of a ride for saving a Pokémon."

"So, anyways, sorry about following you. Curiosity got the better of me," the boy chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it," Lillie said, "Are you ok after all of that?" Marco thought about that question for a while. Sure, he'd been half drowned, and his arm felt like it was about to fall out of it's socket… but still: he was alive at least.

"Eh, I guess," he said, getting up and wincing from using his hurt arm to push himself up, "Anyways, what's your name?"

"Lillie," the girl said smiling, "And you?"

"Marco Sparke, from the Sinnoh Region," Marco answered, smiling, "Anyways, we need to get Nebby to a Pokémon Centre. It looks pretty beat up."

"N-No!" Lillie said, "Nebby… has to stay a secret. It's a really long story, one that we don't have time for right now. Come on, I know someone who can help us."

' _Well, that's not weird at all,'_ Marco thought, following his new friend regardless.

* * *

"And that's how you work the RotomDex!" Professor Kukui said to Ash Ketchum.

"Woah, so it's a Rotom in a PokéDex? So cool!" Ash said, amazed by how great this device was. His Pikachu clearly felt the same way, giving out an outstanded "Pika Pi!" at the device.

"Now we just need to wait for it to boot up-" The professor began, before he was interrupted by a new voice.

"Professor! It's Nebby, you have to help!" Lillie said, running through the door with Marco.

"Yeah, they're hurt… wait a minute," Marco begun, before he saw Ash, _'That face… that hair… and that Pikachu…'_

"Aren't you Ash/Marco from yesterday?" The two boys said in unison, pointing at each other.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom, a sort-of cliffhanger! I'd like to thank everyone at r/fanfiction's discord for helping me with this chapter! They offered advice, and helped when I was stuck in a rut with what to do with the bridge scene! Thank you guys, you're the best <3
> 
> Also, expect Chapter 3 real soon! I've been sparked with motivation!
> 
> Bai!
> 
> \- Quack


	3. Rainy day, Sunny Battle!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuck sheltering from the storm in the forest, Ash catches a new Pokémon and challenges Marco to a double battle. Can Marco win after the battle they had off screen? Only time will tell!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter III yayayayyayayay
> 
> Anyways welcome to Chapter III or 3 if you don't know Roman Numerals.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Ah! I hate the rain!" Lillie yelled, running with Ash and Marco. They'd been journeying for a day now, with some coaxing from Lillie.

"Join the club," Marco yelled back, trying to keep up with Ash: that kid was a fast runner.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled, clearly not having the best opinion on rain either. The gang had been caught in the rain - which was quite rare for Alola - and it hadn't stopped for hours.

And of course, they hadn't found shelter either.

"Look, guys," Ash said, trying to stop everyone from freaking out over some rain, "It's just some rain! Won't hurt us one bit!" And as if the very skies had heard Ash, there was a loud clap of thunder, and it started to hail. Everyone shivered: rain was bad, but thunder was even worse.

"Ok, NOW we panic," Marco joked, "Come on, into the forest, we'll be safer in here! I think… Just follow me!"

* * *

"No, Ash, it has to be like THIS, or the tent will collapse in on itself!" Marco argued, pointing a metal pole to the left. Him and Ash were setting up Ash's tent, but they'd taken to arguing about the current state of the poles - more specifically, whether it should point straight up, or to the left.

"No, otherwise the pole will just jut out from the rest, blocking our way!" Ash retorted, shoving the pole upwards.

"Fine. Have it your way. I won't help you when it collapses in on itself," Marco sighed, walking away from the tent and towards Lillie. She was setting up dinner, seeing as how she knew literally nothing about tents and their structuring.

"Want me to help?" Marco asked, looking at the meal that was cooking.

"Aren't you helping Ash?" Lillie said, as Nebby tried to help itself into what was in the pot, but was pushed away by Lillie.

"He's being a stubborn prick about the poles placement. And prepare for it to collapse in 3, 2, 1..."

Sure enough, there was a loud groan and "Pika!" along with a loud clang of the tent colllapsing in on itself. Marco and Lillie just giggled, looking over at the mess. Marco smugly walked over.

"I told you Ash, didn't I. I told you about 10 times and you didn't listen."

"Shut up," Ash said, starting again from step one in the manual. Pikachu groaned along with him.

* * *

"Mmm, that was lovely Lillie! Thank you so much!" Marco said, putting his empty, soup-stained bowl in the pile that Ash had started. He'd eaten so much soup Marco had had to consider rolling him back home.

"It's no problem!" Lillie said, putting her bowl with Marco's. The sun was setting, but it was still raining. Marco didn't even know how long they were going to be in this forest. But it was going to be a hell of a long time.

"Hey guys! Look at this!" Ash yelled from the distance. Marco and Lillie both ran towards him, eager to see what Ash had found. Knowing him, it would probably be a Pokémon or something like that. Pikachu seemed poised for battle, a grin on his face and lighting flying from the red circles on his cheeks.

"It's a... a Rowlet?" Marco questioned, looking at the bird that was standing in front of them. Without hesitation, RotomDex popped out of Ash's bag, giving the trio info on the bird in front of them.

"Rowlet, the bird Pokémon. The grass type starter for Alola. It is a grass and flying type." RotomDex informed the trainers.

"Does it have a trainer?" Marco asked RotomDex, "You don't usually see Rowlet in the wild.

"I can confirm it is indeed a wild Pokémon!" RotomDex spoke, "What a rare sighting!"

"Alright!" Ash yelled, looking at the Rowlet. It seemed to know what was coming, and wanted to put up a fight, "Ok Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

With that command, Pikachu was surrounded with a faint white aura, and raced towards Rowlet, slamming into it at full speed. The Rowlet - uttering a "Row...let!" hit Pikachu with a strong Peck.

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled, being knocked back but landing back on his feet. Lillie and Marco were impressed.

"Think you can go on buddy?" Ash asked his loyal partner, who responded with a confident "Pi!"

"Alright! Ok Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded, knowing in the back of his mind that the move would be super effective. A yellow aura surrounded Pikachu, as lighting flew out of him, striking the Rowlet down.

"Alright! Now, go, Pokéball!" Ash said, throwing an empty Pokéball at the dazed and defeated Rowlet. It shook 3 times, before some star effects flew out of it with a "Dong!" of success.

"Wow! You actually caught that Rowlet?" Said an amazed Lillie. She wasn't that used to actually seeing a Pokémon captured in the wild.

"You betcha!" Ash said, walking forwards and picking up the Pokéball, "Pikachu, you did great!"

That was met with a thankful, "Pikachu!". Marco looked at how well Ash had captured the Pokémon, his tactics, his Pikachu's movement.

And how the hell he could beat him next time?

**[- Flashback -]**

"Come on Eevee! Think you can keep going?" Marco asked, looking at his bruised Eevee. Him and Ash were battling outside of a Pokémon Centre, with Lillie as their spectator and ref. Eevee hadn't been on the winning side of the battle, taking blow after blow from Pikachu.

"Ee...vee." Eevee called, getting up for possibly the final time.

"Great! Ok Eevee, use Swift let's go!" Marco said, wanting to gain the upperhand on Ash. His bouncing Quick Attack strategy couldn't really work, seeing as this wasn't a triple or double battle.

A few stars hit Pikachu, but he simply got knocked back into position.

"Ok Pikachu, let's finish this with Iron Tail!" Ash said. The battle had been raging for a while now, with Eevee's perseverance the main cause of that.

"Pika...Chu PAI!" Pikachu yelled, slamming his tail - which looked as if it had been made of solid iron, straight into Eevee. And that was the finishing move of their battle.

"Eevee is unable to battle! Ash is the winner! Well done Ash!" Lillie announced, before running over to Eevee with revives and potions she'd bought from the PokéMart.

And all Marco could hear was, "Eevee is unable to battle! Elite Four Flint is the winner!" Once again, he wasn't mad. He was just... sad that once again he couldn't win. He knew it wasn't Flint he had been battling, but it sure as hell had felt like it. The bond with his Pokémon, the strength in his Pokémon... it had been too much for poor Eevee. Again.

"Thanks Lillie," Marco said, taking a potion she was offering him and spraying it on Eevee.

**[- Present Day -]**

"Hey Marco!" Ash said, looking at him. Marco snapped out of his daydream, and looked to him, "Now that I have a Rowlet, fancy a Double Battle tommorow?" His new Rowlet was sitting on his shoulder, and Marco could've sworn it was asleep.

Was it? It was kind of hard to tell.

"Sure! Me and Eevee have a tactic we've been practising!" Marco grinned, with Eevee letting out an "Eevee!" of agreement.

"That would be fun to watch!" Lillie said, before feeling her bag ruffle, "Nebby! You need to stay in the bag! It's getting dark, what if I lost you?"

"Pew..."

"Uhm..." Marco said, thinking about something, "What do we do here?"

Ash turned to him, wondering what he was on about. It was night, probably about 10PM Alola Time.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, looking around to see if he could see it too. And that's when he got it, "Ah. Right. There's only two tents."

"Well... I could stay with one of you guys!" Lillie said, knowing their reactions. She half expected one of them to start a nosebleed. Although she didn't get that, she DID get them both to blush tremdously.

"Y-You could s-stay with me?" Marco stammered out, "I-I... I have a spare sl-sleeping bag anyways, it's no big deal," he said, looking down at the floor. Ash looked relieved: after Serena, he was almost _afraid_ to see another girl.

* * *

"Alright! This will be a double battle between Ash Ketchum and Marco Sparke!" Lillie announced, looking at the two boys as she said their names. They both looked so eager to battle, so eager to _win_ that battle.

"Alright, Eevee, _Popplio_ , I choose you!" Marco said. They'd been practising a technique, and they sure were going to catch Ash off guard with this tactical plan of theirs. Ash grinned.

"Pikachu, Rowlet, let's win this thing!" the Kantonian said, letting Rowlet out of his Pokéball as Pikachu ran forwards onto the battlefield.

"Alright!" Lillie said, "Battle... begin!"

Marco loked at Ash with a gleam of determination in his eyes. He knew exactly what was going to happen. He knew he could win this.

"Alright, 'Popplio', dark pulse!" He commanded. Before Ash had time to react, Popplio changed back into Zoura, letting a dark pulse fly onto Rowlet. The bird Pokémon was knocked off balance, but he managed to stay in the air.

"It was a Zoura?" Ash exclaimed, regretting his cockiness massively, "Alright, Pikachu, use Quick Attack on Zoura, let's go!" With Ash uttering the command, Pikachu ran towards Marco's Zoura.

"Dodge it Zoura!" Marco said, praying it wasn't too late, "And Eevee, use Quick Attack, like we practised!" Marco was confident in that last part. Seeing how well Eevee demonstrated the move with the Spearow a couple days ago, he was certain about this one.

"Dodge it!" Ash yelled. Rowlet didn't have enough time to and was slammed to the groung, taking a lot of damage. Pikachu, however, just managed to slip Eevee's grasp, which sent the cunning Pokémon down into the ground.

"Now's your chance Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!" Ash said, not wanting to let this opportunity go to waste. Pikachu charged up his tail, and slammed it into Eevee.

"Eevee! No!" Marco yelled, regretting that he hadn't included Pikachu's speed when training the move, "Zoura, use tackle on Rowlet!"

It was on this day that Marco realised that Double Battles were tough. Really tough. You had to command 2 different Pokémon to do 2 different things, against 2 other Pokémon. Really tough, when you think about it.

As that thought swam in his mind, Zoura succesfully used it's move on Rowlet, providing the finishing blow.

"Rowlet is unable to battle!" Lillie said, realising she was pretty good at this reffere buisness.

"Rowlet, you did great, now return," Ash said, "Pikachu, use Electro Ball on Zoura!" Pikachu did as instructed, sending a flash of lightning onto Zoura. That seemed like the finishing blow for the shapeshifting Pokémon...

And it was.

"Zoura is unable to battle!" Lillie said once again, checking her bag to see if it still contained Nebby. As she did that, Nebby poked its head above the bag to look out of it and to spectate the ongoing battle.

"Eevee, think you can go on?" Marco asked his longtime partner. With a steady "Ee...vee" Eevee recovered herself.

"Ok Pikachu, use Quick Attack! Let's end this!" Ash said, pointing his finger forwards.

"Eevee, counter it with Quick Attack!" Marco said, pointing his finger forwards too.

The two Pokémon ran at each other with incredible speed. RotomDex started to record the battle. As the two collided, a load of dust filled the air, causing Marco to shield his eyes.

And as the dust settled?

"Pikachu is unable to battle!" Lillie said, preparing her revives and potions, "Marco Sparke is the winner!

Marco smiled, and looked at his partner. But something looked... odd about them.

The white parts of their fur were green. Their ears almost looked like they were coloured to imitate Marco's hat. Their eyes were a blood red, matching Marco's, even though Marco's were usually a dark crimson. It was such an odd sight. RotomDex kept recording.

Eevee looked at Marco, and in the reflection of her eyes was Marco's own: they were blood red. Without warning, Eevee transformed back to normal, and collapsed along with Marco. He felt so out of energy... What was that that happened to Eevee? How did it win over Ash's Pikachu so easily, being so weak at that moment in time?

And what just happened with them?

* * *

"Battle Bond?" Marco questioned, eating the sandwiches that Lillie made with Ash and Lillie, "What's that?"

"Even I don't really know for sure. All I know is it's where a trainer and Pokémon's heart, soul and mind combine. You get really powerful, and your Pokémon looks cool too!" Ash answered, before following up with the slightly disappointing, "But if one of you get hurt, the other does too."

"Oh." Marco sighed, a little disapointed. But the perks definitinley outweigh the flaws. He wanted to train with this, to make him and Eevee stronger…

But how did he activate that again?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom! I did a sprint through that last part. Sorry the chapter's so long, almost double the usual length. I just really wanted to get that battle done. Bye guys!


	4. Chapter IV [4] - The past and the present.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuck sheltering from the storm in the forest, Ash catches a new Pokémon and challenges Marco to a double battle. Can Marco win after the battle they had off screen? Only time will tell!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF, this was a stickler. Chapter 4 has so far gone through 3 separate versions, this one being the third.  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

“Guys? We’re out food supplies,” Marco glumly reported, zipping his backpack up with a heavy sigh. They’d been running low for a while, but he never thought it would happen now, of all times.

“Just when I’m starving hungry, too,” Ash moaned, “my socks are wet, too. Today couldn’t get worse.” His Pikachu moaned a “Pika pi…” of agreement. Lillie was already asleep. The gang had to travel through a shallow river today, and they had all gotten soaked and grumbly. Marco was trying to tie everything together. His Zorua and Eevee were both asleep by Lillie. Being unconscious, she had no fear of a Pokémon touching her.

Still, Marco found it necessary to watch his 2 partners and make sure when Lillie looked ready to wake up his Pokémon would move.

“Well, we can probably make it to the Pokémon Centre tomorrow. I could get some food supplies then,” Marco suggested. Everyone had grumbled that day, and he was tired. More tired than usual, “And anyways, you're always starving Ash.”

“Yeah…” Ash said, not really paying attention, “What if we got a fire going to warm us up?”

“I’ll see if I can get a fire going, but I don’t see any Pokémon that could help us,” Marco sighed, “Let’s go looking for drywood first. Finding something that burns the most vital thing to starting a fire.”

* * *

“No, Ash, it has to be organised like _this_ , otherwise it’ll catch the grass and start a forest fire!” Marco groaned. They seemed to always clash when it came to setting something up together.

“Listen, it’ll be fine. If we start a forest fire, then we’ll just deal with it the best we can. Where’s the wood?” Ash asked.

 “With me, where it _won’t_ start any forest fires. Honestly, Ash, you can literally see it will start burning grass if we do this! Just let me flatten it out so it won’t-” Marco countered, before being stopped by a scream that would probably stay with him forever. It was spine chilling, almost like someone had just encountered something that they had feared for their whole life.

 Oh. Right.

 Eevee and Zorua were still snuggled up to Lillie. Or at least, they used to be. Lillie had woken up and had seen his two Pokémon snuggled up to her. Marco and Ash both had chills sent up their spine simultaneously.

 “Holy crap, Lillie, I completely forgot Eevee and Zorua were there! I’m so sorry,” Marco apologised, picking the two Pokémon up and putting one on each shoulder. They both looked concerned and apologetic too, “Zorua, Eevee, return.” The two Pokémon returned to their Pokéballs, red light beams sucking them in.

 “I-It’s fine,” Lillie said, getting up and looking at the drywood the boys had set up, “There’s been worse cases…”

 Marco had no clue what Lillie meant by that, and kind of wanted to find out now she’d hinted towards that. His thoughts were interrupted by the crackling sound of a flame. He looked over and saw Ash had started the fire. A few blades of grass caught fire besides him, but he quickly stamped them out.

 “No forest fires today!” Ash said with a bit of a smirk. He sat down by the fire, along with Marco and Lillie, “So, who wants to tell horror stories?”

 “How about our pasts?” Marco suggested, “I’ll start with mine: bare with - it’s a long one pretty long one.”

 “We have time!” Lillie said, “Let’s hear it!”

 Marco took a breath in, knowing exactly what he was about to say to all of them. Knowing it was going to bring back memories he would more the rather forget.

* * *

 

“I was born in Sandgem Town, in the Sinnoh Region. I had no brothers or sisters, and I can’t recall who my father was, either. I think he must’ve left before I could start to remember things.”

“My mother never made me take swimming lessons, and I never bothered to go down to the beach. I explored the forest, meeting loads of Pokémon, too! It was so much fun… until… _that_ day.”

Marco tensed up. He gripped his knees tight, nearly cutting them. He was visibly on edge.

“The d-day where t-that Beed-drill s-stung me.”

He sighed.

“The day where my l-life c-changed forever.”

 

**[- Flashback -]**

 

_“Mum! I’m going out to the forest!” A younger Marco called out. He was only a few days away from the magical age of 10, and wanted to go out exploring the forest one more time before he set off on his journey._

_He ran across the pavement, a big grin plastered across his face. He reached the forest and immediately felt as if he was at his home away from home. He saw all the usual faces as he entered the forest, all of his favourite Pokémon._

_Then he collided with something. It was yellow and black, had a sharp, piercing spike on it, and looked angry._

_“Beedrill…” it growled._

_And then it dug it’s spike into Marco’s shoulder, followed by a blood curdling cry of pain._

 

**[- Flashback End -]**

 

“Marco? Are you ok?” Lillie asked. Marco was gripping his knees tightly, sweat dripping down his forehead. It looked as if he’d seen a ghost, or something traumatic.

“I...I-I’m f-fine…” He stuttered “A-A-Anyways, who wants to go next?”

“I’ll go! I’ve travelled over lots of regions, so I have a lot of history to cover!

* * *

 

I was born in Pallet Town! I kind of overslept when I went to get my Pokémon, so I got Pikachu instead!” Ash looked pretty relaxed discussing his past, maybe slightly embarrassed at the fact he overslept on arguably the most important day of his life. Completely unlike Marco had. Maybe it was because he was covering more lighter topics than usual, maybe it was because he hadn’t been stung by a Beedrill when he was young.

“You mean you overslept? How could you do that on the day you were supposed to get a Pokémon?” Lillie asked, “Isn’t it like Christmas, where some instinct wakes you up earlier than usual?”

“I broke my alarm clock in my sleep… It’s a long story. But anyways, I travelled through loads regions, meeting all kinds of Pokémon! And Pikachu has been by my side, always!” Pikachu let out a “Pika!” at the mention of his name.

The campfire had started to die down now, and Marco sighed. He glanced down and realised blood was trickling down from his knees. It wasn’t a big issue, but no one likes bleeding.

“Uh, guys?” Marco said as casually as he could, “I’m, uh, kind of bleeding.”

* * *

Marco and Lillie were in the same tent together. Lillie had no tent, so Marco and Lillie had to share, with the medium-sized tent just about squeezing the two children in together with their sleeping bags.

But Marco wasn’t saying he had any issue with Lillie and him being so close together.

Being like this gave him a chance to just think about the day. That's why he always liked this time of night, where everyone was asleep, and it was just his own thoughts, drifting around his mind. Everything he’d done, it was all just floating around in his mind.

He knew what he was going to do tomorrow. He was going to try and do that… what did Ash call it? Battle bond, that was it, he was going to try and do battle bond again tomorrow.

There was one problem - well, two problems though. He didn’t know how to activate it. Ash would probably show him how, so that was fine enough. The second was that his legs still hurt from when he cut them. He must’ve been squeezing them really tight if they did that. But, if he actually activated it, would Eevee feel that pain in his legs? He didn’t want his partner getting hurt, so would Battle Bond be the best idea right now?

 _“I doubt it’ll affect anything,”_ Marco thought, as he slowly drifted off to sleep, _“It’ll all… be fine…”_

* * *

“Malasadas… in the... morning… are great!” Marco said in-between bites. No one could blame him, seeing how they all hadn’t eaten since yesterday afternoon. Early afternoon, too.

“No kidding!” Ash and Lillie both said. It seemed like everyone there, human and Pokémon alike, were all ravenous that morning.

Nebby was munching on some star candy, whilst Pikachu, Eevee, Zorua and Rowlet both had their own individual bowls full of food.

“Alright, what next?” Marco asked, “Where do we go, what do we do? Personally, I think we should keep training and work on what Nebby actually is, but I’m open to any other suggestions if you guys wanna do something else.”

“Eh, sounds good to me!” Ash agreed, “Whadda’ya think Lillie?”

“Sounds like a good idea!” Lillie replied, picking up Nebby and rubbing it a little, “Maybe some answers could be at the Aether Paradise, where I used to li-” Lillie stopped herself just in time, “...where I rescued Nebby from.”

 _“Was she going to say she used to lived there? That’s… new information. I’ll have to make a note of that.”_ Marco thought.

“Alright Eevee, how about we try and use that Battle Bond with Ash?” Marco asked his loyal companion, “We could try it on the beach, too! And maybe we could train with Zorua too!”

“Eevee!!” his partner called, having finished their food. Marco was also finished, having managed to scoff all of his malasadas quicker than anyone on the table - even Ash, for a change.

“We’ll meet you out there: we’ve still got food to finish!” Ash said, looking over at Rowlet and Pikachu. Zorua was now finished, and hopped onto Marco’s shoulder, “Surprising, actually. You go on ahead!”

Marco nodded, before turning to run to Hau’oli City’s beach with a shout of “Alright! Eevee, Zorua, let’s GO!”


	5. Chapter V [5] - Training and Imagine Dragons

“Ok, Eevee… let’s use Swift, once more...” Marco called, exhausted, pointing his finger forwards to a rock jutting out of the sand. Marco and Eevee were trying desperately to activate Battle Bond, but nothing was working. Thinking of everything that brought him and Eevee together. Their beginning, their journey, the fight Eevee had put up against Flint’s Houndoom…

Marco was tired. Eevee had beat Pikachu (barely). Eevee had beat Rowlet. Eevee had beat Zorua. And they were all so tired after all the fights that had happened, as the hot sun showed no mercy. They weren’t getting any closer to the end goal of Battle Bond. Not by anything.

“You know what?” Marco sighed, “Let’s take a break for now. We’re not getting any closer, and we’re just tiring ourselves by doing this.” Eevee sagged to the ground, exhausted from all the battling. Marco could practically see the individual sweat beads pouring off of Eevee’s head.

“This is worse than I thought… Eevee, return.” Marco groaned, getting Eevee’s Pokéball out from his pocket and sending her into it, “This’ll never work. Me and Eevee are putting everything we have into our attacks, and our bond…”

“Well, at least you can do _that_ right.” Ash pointed out. Marco wasn’t in the mood to be amused.

“So why the hell are we not using Battle Bond again?” Marco sighed, slumping down onto the beach. Lillie was studying Nebby, per usual. She still hadn’t made any progress but was certain that she was ‘ _this’_ close to a breakthrough.

“Why don’t we head over to the Pokémon Centre? We can rest in the cool there,” Lillie suggested, “It’s pretty apparent that we’re not making any progress for now.” Marco sighed in defeat. Ash and Pikachu wearily got up, and started to trudge for the Pokémon Centre. Marco stayed put, a bright idea crossing his mind.

“I’m stuck,” Marco groaned, “I think it’s a very sudden case of CBAS.” Sure enough, Lillie looked over at Marco.

“What’s CBAS?” Lillie asked him.

“Can’t Be Arsed Syndrome,” Marco answered with a smirk. Hopefully this plan should work. Sure enough, Lillie extended her hand out to him, sighing as she did. Marco grabbed it and pulled himself up. Mission accomplished, even if it only lasted a second or two.

* * *

_[- Song playing - Believer - Imagine Dragons_

_0:02 - 3:23 -]_

Marco was in his pyjamas, looking at the sun slowly setting over Hau’oli City. It was truly beautiful at this time of night. He’d taken a shower, hogged the bathroom to mess with Ash for a bit, and, for once, it was cooling down. He had no clue what the time was, and right now it didn’t matter.

_[- First things first, I’ma say all the words inside my head… - ]_

Marco hummed along to the lyrics, unconsciously stroking his partner in crime, Eevee. She needed her rest, seeing how hard they worked today.

_[- I’m fired up and tired of the ways that things have been oh, oooo hoooo… -]_

Believer was one of his favourite songs. It was a great tune, great lyrics and made by the best band in the world. At least, that was his opinion. Probably not

_[- The way that things have been oh, oooo hoooo… -]_

_[- Second thing second, don't you tell me what you think that I can be, I'm the one at the sail, I'm the master of my sea, oh ooh, the master of my sea, oh ooh -]_

_[- I was broken from a young age… -]_

For some reason, that lyric struck Marco for some reason, halting his humming for a moment. The Beedrill attack when he was young: he’d almost been broken. Almost became fearful of Pokémon… if it wasn’t for Eevee.

_[- Taking my sulkings to the masses, writing my poems for the few that looked at me, took to me, shook to me, feeling me… -]_

He couldn’t just thank Eevee. Truly, it was his journey that saved him from fearing Pokémon. And Prinplup. And Quagsire. And Luxio. And Onix. And Magmar. And Snover, too. His Sinnoh team… it was amazing how far he’d come. As a person. As a trainer...

_[- Singing from heartache from the pain, taking my message from the veins, speaking my lesson from the brain, seeing the beauty through the... -]_

Marco sighed. He kind of wished he could go back to Sinnoh. Journeying was fun and all... But home was his home. he didn't want to stop journeying, not at all. But if he could take a break. Maybe just a month or two. If he could do that, he'd be satisfied.

_[- Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, a believer... -]_

Marco took an earbud out and looked around the room. Lillie was studying Nebby, her mind obviously whirring with guesses on what they were. There were multiple books around her on the bed, but Marco didn’t bother looking at what they were saying.

Ash was with Pikachu, obviously, having a conversation about catching Pokémon. His Rowlet was sleeping on the end of his bed.

"What Pokémon do ya reckon we'll catch next, buddy?" Ash asked. His Pikachu just responded with a simple "Pika!", but Ash probably understood it.

"Ash?" Marco asked, pausing his music.

"Yeah?" Ash said, sitting up a bit more.

"Did you ever... well... get homesick on your journeys?" Marco sighed. He wasn't homesick, by any means. But he just wanted to know. Maybe he was a _little_ homesick. But he just wanted to go back for a while, not permanently.

"Well, during Kanto, yeah, I guess," Ash responded, clearly showing he hadn't really thought about it before, "But you get over it!"

"Do you... ever want to go back? Even just for a month or something?" Marco sighed, "Because I kind of want to after Alola. Just for a month, or something. Go back to the forest, enjoy Sinnoh. Hell, maybe go to the beach for a bit."

Ash actually thought about this for a while. They sat there in silence for a while, not really knowing what to say.

"Well... You know what? I actually have no clue!" Ash laughed, Pikachu bouncing onto his shoulder, "I might try that sometime. Maybe even take another trip around Kanto, for old times sake!"

Marco smiled, then yawned suddenly. It reminded him that he had no clue what the time was. He grabbed his phone and looked at the clock.

**21:43**

It was that late already?

* * *

 

"I think I've cracked it!" Lillie exclaimed, "What if Nebby was an Ultra Beast?"

Marco looked puzzled, as did Eevee. "Go on," he said.

 

"An Ultra Beast comes out of an Ultra Wormhole" Lillie explained, "They're from a whole other dimension, what my mother wanted to know about for... well, my whole life, I guess. She... She was always really busy with work. I.. didn’t see her all that much."

Marco didn't really know what to think about that, but there was alarms going off in his mind for sure. What was the word for it again? Worka... Workaholism, that was it. He was about to pull out his phone to explore the definition, but Ash beat him to it.

"Workaholic," Ash read, "Noun. A person who works compulsively, at... at the expense of other pursuits."

No one spoke for a solid minute. The tension in the air was burning.

Lillie definitely didn't - hadn't wanted Ash and Marco to know about that. It all clicked. Why she didn't talk about her past when him and Ash did (and there was the fact he literally cut into his kneecaps with his bare hands, but that was another point), why she stopped herself when she said "lived there" at breakfast yesterday.

Because she didn’t want to remember her mother not remembering her.

"Yeah... I guess so," Lillie sighed, before perking up, "Anyways, I'm not done yet! I need to find out where we can create an Ultra Wormhole to out Nebby back where they belong!"

"And I need to work on Battle Bond!" Marco said, "and YOU need to help me Ash! I have a feeling about this time! I just _know_ this will work!” Marco sprinted towards the nearby forest, catching Eevee off guard. She almost flew off of his shoulder, but managed to grab his hat just at the last second.

“Here we go again,” Ash and Lillie chuckled, and they began to race after Marco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHH I WAS GONE FOR A MONTH. Well, no one actually noticed to be honest, but I don’t care. I feel really bad, so I’m gonna work on chapter 7 and 8 and release them as a Part I and II. If you can’t tell, I’m a big fan of Roman Numerals. I put numbers so you can actually tell what the chapter is lol.
> 
> I also want to say a giant thank you to the r/fanfiction discord. I know I keep bringing them up, but I would be stuck without them. Completely and utterly stuck with this story. The farthest I’d gotten before in a Fanfiction I was writing was Chapter 2, then I got stuck with a scene, lost interest in writing and the story died. I was determined it wasn’t going to happen with this, and it isn’t. And it’s probably thanks to the image of books in my server list. So thank you ALL on the Discord, even if you haven’t joined yet, if you aren’t active or haven’t even spoke to me!
> 
> (i also highly recommend joining, it’s a great server.)
> 
> Anyways, with that thanks out of the way, I also want to say that during my break, exams came and went, so you don’t need to worry about me disappearing for another month and a half.


End file.
